Humidifier



April 16, 1935. BoEscH 1,997,763

HUMIDIFIER Filed May 23, 1934 Ji l/Mme JZJEPA/ A Eaasa/ Patented Apr. 16, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2- Claims.

This invention relates to humidifiers or Vaporizers for use upon internal combustion engines, and especially such engines as are commonly employed upon motor vehicles of any kind.

- One main object of the invention is to provide in a simple and practical'form such a humidifier, vaporizer or steam injector adapted for mounting under the hood of the motor vehicle and adapted to supply hot water vapor or steam to the combustible mixture in the'carburetor, whereby the efiiciency of the explosive mixture is increased and carbon accumulationsreduced or prevented; Another object is to provide a device of the kind referred to, the same including a suitable reservoir or tank within which hot water vapor or steam may be created and held in reserve for use, with means within the tank for creating the water vapor or steam and means for leading the same to the carburetor as required. Another object is to provide in a device of the kind named a suitable tank for mounting upon the motor vehicle in any desired location, a heating drum within the lower portion of the tank, a conduit leading thru the tank and thru the heating drum,

the said conduit being adapted at one end for 7 connection with the exhaust pipe of the engine whereby the hot exhaust gases or products of combustion are passed thru the said drum and serve to vaporize the water in the tank, an antisplash device within the tank for preventing the water therein from splashing up into the upper vapor chamber of the tank, and controlled means extended from the vapor chamber of the tank to the engine carburetor, for leading the hot water vapor or steam thereto.

With the foregoing and such other objects and advantages in view as may be developed in the following specification, attention is now directed to the accompanying drawing wherein is illustrated a preferred embodiment of the invention, the said drawing constituting a part of this specification, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a vertical section thru the apparatus constituting the subject matter of this invention, as same appears mounted adjacent the engine of a motor vehicle, a fragment only of the latter being shown in dotted lines and the conduit pipes leading into and out of the tank being shown as broken away at their ends.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the assembly shown in Figure 1, taken at an angle of ninety degrees thereto.

Figure 3 is a section on the line 33 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a section on the line 44 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a detail view showing the method of connecting the tank of the apparatus to the exhaust pipe of the engine.

As shown in the present drawing the invention includes a reservoir or tank I of a capacity'of I from one-half to one gallon, or as desired. The 5 tank as shown is cylindrical inform and is mounted upon a bracket 2 secured at 3 to the motor vehicle 4, the location of the tank being of course as conveniently near the carburetor 5 of the engine (not shown) as possible, and pref- 10 erably somewhat below the carburetor, as shown. The bracket 2 includes across-strip 6 which is slightly longer than the diameter of the tank and is preferably welded or riveted medially at .1 to the upper reach of the bracket. The iree'ex- 15 tremities of the cross strip 5 are pierced with bolt holes 8. The tank I is formed with inset ends la whereby annular beads lb are provided at each end. Long bolts 9 having hooked ends In are hooked at these ends over the upper bead of the tank, their threaded ends H being passed thru the bolt holes 8 of the cross strip, and the nuts I2 turned up for firmly anchoring the tank to the bracket. If desired additional braces may be extended from the tank, as indicated by the brace 13 in Figure 1. Within the lower end of the tank I is mounted a water tight heating drum 14, the same being of less diameter than the inner diameter of the drum, so as to leave a space l5 surrounding the drum into which the water of the tank may enter, thereby facilitating the heating of the water as later pointed out. An exhaust inlet pipe [6 leads thru the wall of the tank at one side and communicates interiorly with the drum I4 with sealed joints. Similarly an exhaust outlet pipe ll leads from the opposite side of the drum out thru the opposite wall of the tank. A V-shaped deflector I8 is mounted within the drum I4 directly opposite the inlet mouth of the pipe I6 with the apex or angle of the deflector turned thereto, whereby the exhaust gases flowing thru the drum from that pipe are deflected to either side around the sides of the drum, thereby increasing the heating effect of the gases, which then pass out thru the outlet pipe ll. Connection of the outer end of the inlet pipe IS with the exhaust pipe H] of the engine (not shown) is made in any desired manner, as by an adapter 20 provided with screws 2| for engaging the exhaust pipe and with screws 22 for the extension pipe 23 leading to the tank I, being there connected tothe inlet pipe 96 as shown in Figure 5. An anti-splash device 24 is seated within the tank I above the drum M, the same comprising four vanes or blades 25 joined centrally at right angles to each other and provided with a top or cover 26 which is pierced by a steam or vapor port 21. The anti-splash device is permanently mounted in place within the tank, with the top 26 spaced below the upper closed end of the tank, thereby providing a steam or vapor chamber 28 between the two, A water port 29 is formed thru the upper end of the tank and provided with a plug or closure 30. A steam or vapor tube 3| is inserted centrally down thru the upper end of the tank I and sealed or soldered in place, the inner end of this tube thus communicating with the steam or vapor chamber 28. The outer end of this tube 3| is equipped with a safety valve 32, which may be of any conventional form. From the tube 3| a valve controlled extension 3| a leads into the carburetor 5 at the point 3lb.

In use and operation the exhaust gases or products of combustion pass into and thru the drum l4, and the tank I having been previously partially filled with water, as indicated in Figure 1, the heat of the gases causes vapor and steam to form at the surface of the water which rises and passes thru the port 21 into the vapor or steam chamber 28 where a supply is held constantly in reserve, passing as needed thru the tubes 3| and Illa into the carburetor to form part of the explosive mixture. The fiow of steam and vapor may be regulated as desired thru the valve 33. From the description given it is thought the use and operation of the device will be fully understood, and while I have here described and shown a certain embodiment 01' my invention and certain structural features thereof, it is understood that I am not to be strictly confined thereto, but that I may vary same in minor details, not departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a device of the kind described, an elongated, cylindrical water tank having a, filling port in its upper end, a heating drum within the lower end of the tank, inlet and outlet pipes leading into and out of the drum thru the walls of the tank, a gas deflector within the drum opposite the mouth of the lead-in pipe, an antisplash device arranged above the heating drum the same including spaced vanes and a top spaced below the upper end of the tank, thereby forming a vapor chamber between the top of the anti-splash device and the upper end of the tank, a vapor tube leading from the vapor chamber, means for connecting the vapor tube to the carburetor of an internal combustion engine, and means for connecting the inlet pipe of the heating drum with the exhaust pipe of an internal combustion engine.

2. In a device of the kind described, a water tank having a filling port, a flattened heating drum in the lower part of the tank, the walls of the drum falling short or the walls of the tank to provide a water circulating space therebetween, inlet and outlet pipes leading into and out of the drum, a deflector within the drum opposite the inlet pipe, a vapor chamber arranged in the upper part of the tank, the same communicating with the interior of the tank, the said vapor chamber having an outlet, and a four-vaned anti-splash device mounted within the chamber between the vapor chamber and the heating drum and arranged to prevent water within the tank from splashing from any lateral movement of the tank.

JOSEPH L. BOESCH. 

